You emphasized "word mark" in your answers portion of your brief. This has a visual Icon, but it is very underwhelming. It is a simple thought bubble. It represents the imagination that leads to the "Practical Innovation".
this is still my favorite concept, but is lacking some of the crispness and power of the other designs. maybe it's the lighting/shading effects on the font - i'm not sure.
i wish i could describe it better, but there is a harsh light effect cutting across the top half of all the letters. so instead of adding robustness and impact to the fullest extent it could, the lighting seems to distract from the message.
i have had a couple people comment that it comes off as "cartoony".
sorry if that doesn't make any sense. i hope you can think of a creative way to address it, because the other color treatments didn't seem to be better.
This is an east fix...I will be back tonight and will make the noted changes...I also have a couple of other concepts that I will submit...thanks again.
I think that this is a much stronger color scheme. I also removed the lighting gradient that may have actually been weakening the mark. I will submit some additional colors as well. Thanks!